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Tamsyn Manou

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Tamsyn Manou

Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing  Australia
World Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place Valencia 2008 800 metres
Silver medal – second place Maebashi 1999 4x400 m relay
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place Kuala Lumpur 1998 4x400 m relay
Gold medal – first place Manchester 2002 4x400 m relay
Gold medal – first place Melbourne 2006 4x400 m relay
World Junior Championships
Bronze medal – third place Sydney 1996 4x400 m relay

Tamsyn Carolyn Manou (née Lewis, born 20 July 1978) is an Australian media personality and former track and field athlete who won a total of eighteen Australian Championships across the 400 metres, 800 metres and 400m hurdles.[1] She first represented Australia in 1994, and won the 800 metres in the 2008 World Indoor Championships.[2]

Personal life

Manou was born and raised in Melbourne, Victoria and attended Methodist Ladies' College and Caulfield Grammar School.[3] Her mother Carolyn Wright was a six-time national high jump champion, while her father, Greg Lewis, was a semi-finalist in the 200 metres at the 1968 Summer Olympics. She married Australian cricketer Graham Manou in 2011.[2][4]

Athletics career

Manou emerged onto the national athletics scene in 1994, winning several events at the Australian Championships: the Under-16 100 m/200 m double and the Under-20 400 m. After these performances she was chosen, aged 15, for the 1994 Commonwealth Games as a 4 x 400 metres relay runner, though she did not eventually compete in the event.[5] Her next international selection was for the 1996 World Junior Championships in Sydney, where she won a bronze medal as part of the Australian 4 x 400 metres relay team.

In 1998, Manou moved up to the 800 metres, winning the National Championship and gaining a place in the 1998 Commonwealth Games team. Though she did not win a medal in the 800 metres, she contributed to Australia's gold medal winning 4 × 400 metres relay team.[5] She next ran internationally in the 800 metres and 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1999 World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, where she set an Australian indoor record of 2:02.42 in her individual event and again won a medal as part of Australia's 4 x 400 metres relay team.

Leading up to the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics, Manou set new personal bests in the 400 and 800 metres to qualify for the Australian team. At the Olympics, she missed the Olympic final in the 800 metres by less than a tenth of a second, but ran in Australia's 4 x 400 metres relay team which set two national records.

In the following years, Manou did not improve her personal best performances and gained a reputation as an underachiever in international competitions.[6] She stopped running the 800 metres in 2005 to focus on the 400 metres and develop her speed. She competed only in the 400 metres at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, where she missed making the final, and in the 4 x 400 metres relay event, where she won her third successive gold medal amidst a major controversy, as part of the victorious Australian quartet.[5]

In 2007 Manou made a return to the 800 metres under new coach, and brother, Justin Lewis, winning the national championships, placing in several European Meetings and qualifying for the 2007 World Championships, where she finished fourth in her heat in 2:01.21 and again missed the final.[5]

Manou enjoyed a return to her best form in early 2008, remaining undefeated over 400 metres and 800 metres in Australia.[7] She ran a personal best time of 51.44 to win the national 400 metres titles and comfortably retained her 800 metres crown.[7] These performances earned Manou selection in her third consecutive Australian Olympic team.[2]

At the 2008 World Indoor Championships, held in Valencia, Spain, Manou qualified for the final by running an Australian record of 2:01.85 in her heat. In a tactical final, Manou broke away from perennial champion Maria de Lurdes Mutola and Ukrainian Tetiana Petlyuk to win the gold medal in a major upset.[8] Manou said "I was wondering what I was doing out there. Then I realised that I could win the race. This is amazing. I still can't believe it."[8]

Manou represented Australia at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.[2] Here she made the semi-final of the 800 metres and narrowly missed qualifying for the semi-final of the 400 metres.

At the 2009 Australian Championships, Manou won both the 400 metres and the 400m hurdles.

Over her athletics career, Manou won a total of 18 national titles,[9] and her coaches included Peter Fortune (Cathy Freeman's coach), Sebastian Coe and Daley Thompson.

Relay teams

Manou won a number of international medals in the 4 × 400 m relay:[5]

Manou is also a three-time gold medal winner in the Commonwealth Games 4 × 400 m relay event.

  • At Kuala Lumpur 1998, Manou joined Lee Naylor, Tania Van-Heer and Susan Andrews to win in a time of 3:27.28.
  • At Manchester 2002, Manou ran the third leg in a team which featured Olympic 400 metres champion Cathy Freeman, Lauren Hewitt and, anchoring, 400m hurdles champion Jana Pittman. Manou's leg saw Australia move from second into first place, and their time was a Games record 3:25.63.
  • At Melbourne 2006, Manou and her teammates Pittman, Caitlin Willis and Rosemary Hayward were second across the line being beaten by England; again Manou had run the third leg. After consultation with her fellow runners, both Manou and Pittman informed officials of a rule breach by England's Natasha Danvers (IAAF Rule 170 – Item 9), which the officials had already noted. England was subsequently disqualified and Australia awarded the gold medal; the time 3:28.66. Afterwards, Australian track legend Ron Clarke called on the Australian team to return their gold medal.[10]

Media career

Manou began her media career with Melbourne radio station Triple M, as part of the 'Dead Set Legends' crew, in 2005.[11]

In 2006, she appeared on the Australian television series Dancing with the Stars. Partnered by Arsen Kishishian, Manou finished third.[12]

From December 2007, with Jules Lund and Ryan Shelton, Manou presented the Summer Fling breakfast show across the Austereo Today Network.[13]

Manou and Bruce McAvaney presented the athletics track events for the Seven Network at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.[14]

Controversies

In 2004, Manou posed in bikinis for Ralph magazine, prompting criticism from the media for losing focus on her preparation for the Athens Olympics. After Manou failed to progress past the heats of her individual event, the 800 metres, she and her coaches defended the photoshoot saying it was undertaken in five hours on one day and was not to blame for her result.[15]

In February 2006, Manou and fellow Australian runner Jana Pittman were involved in a public feud after the Australian athletics trials for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[16] Pittman, in answer to a media question following her heat win, had stated she had "no competition" in Australia; Manou responded "I was standing behind the blocks [for the final] going, 'I'll give you no competition, bitch.'" in a radio interview after she won the final with Pittman finishing last. The media later described their relationship as a "catfight" and a "bitchfight."[17]

In the 29 May 2006 edition of Australian "Zoo Weekly" magazine, Manou again posed in what Nova 100 afternoon DJ's described as "incredibly racy" lingerie. In the accompanying article, Manou went into detail about her relationship with Jana Pittman and the furore caused over comments by Pittman that the team should all return their medals.

In the lead-up to the Beijing Olympics she stated she would be running against drug cheats: "I have no doubts that when I line up next week, I will look left and right and know the other girls aren't all clean".[18]

Statistics

Personal bests

Event Time Place Date
400 m 51.42 Brisbane, Australia 20 March 2009
400m hurdles 56.27 Brisbane, Australia 21 March 2009
800 m 1:59.21 Canberra, Australia 15 January 2000
800 m indoor 2:01.85 Valencia, Spain 7 March 2008

Australian Championships titles

Year 400 m 800 m 400m Hurdles
1998 – 1 –
1999 – 1 –
2000 – 1 –
2001 – 1 –
2002 – 1 –
2003 – 1 –
2004 – 2 (1st Australian) –
2005 1 – –
2006 2 (1st Australian) – –
2007 1 1 –
2008 1 1 –
2009 1 – 1
2010 4 (3rd Australian) – 2
2011 1 1 –
2012 - 1 –

Yearly progression

Year 400 m 800 m 400m Hurdles
1993 54.84 – –
1994 52.90 – –
1995 53.01 – –
1996 53.34 – –
1997 – – –
1998 52.60 2:01.71 –
1999 52.58 2:00.95 –
2000 51.51 1:59.21 –
2001 53.07 2:00.86 –
2002 52.21 1:59.73 –
2003 52.85 1:59.35 –
2004 53.72 2:00.96 –
2005 52.44 2:11.37 –
2006 52.36 2:06.52 –
2007 51.71 1:59.37 –
2008 51.44 1:59.43 –
2009 51.42 – 56.27

See also

References

  1. ^ Inside Athletics (April 2009) – 2009 Aussie Champs
  2. ^ a b c d IAAF – Believe it, Tamsyn
  3. ^ 2008 Australian Olympic Team (2008). Tamsyn Lewis Archived 23 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 July 2008.
  4. ^ http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/confidential/tamsyn-lewis-and-graham-manou-celebrate-their-engagement/story-e6frf96o-1225867498842
  5. ^ a b c d e Athletics Australia profile – Tamsyn Manou
  6. ^ Australian Broadcasting Corporation – 2004 Olympic preview
  7. ^ a b Athletics Gold – 2008 season
  8. ^ a b IAAF World Indoor Championships – Women's 800 metres
  9. ^ Inside Athletics (April 2009) www.insideathletics.com.au
  10. ^ Aussie relay team urged to hand back medals
  11. ^ Tamsyn Lewis news page
  12. ^ Seven Network – Dancing with the Stars
  13. ^ Herald Sun – Summer Fling
  14. ^ Outspoken runner Tamsyn Lewis set to join Channel Seven’s Rio Olympics commentary team
  15. ^ The Age – Sexy photos not to blame
  16. ^ The Age – Feuding Run Pair Urged to Focus on Deeds to end 'petty jealousy'
  17. ^ Sydney Morning Herald – War of words between Pittman, Manou
  18. ^ Tamsyn Lewis: I'll be racing drugs cheats
Preceded by
Toby Allen & Leanne Bampton
 Dancing with the Stars (Australia) third place contestant
Season 5 (Late 2006 with Arsen Kishishian) 		Succeeded by
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